All Honor to Jefferson
Brittany Baldwin /
Today we celebrate the birthday of the man who united the colonies with mere parchment and pen. As we remember the legacy of Thomas Jefferson, we commemorate the document that embodies the principles of America.
At the age of thirty-three, Thomas Jefferson accepted the challenge of writing the Declaration of Independence. John Adams insisted that Jefferson was the one for the job, because, Adams admitted, “I am obnoxious, suspected, and unpopular… [and] you can write ten times better than I can.” Many delegates wondered if the colonists could join together to defend themselves against Britain. Such unity would be possible with the right statement of purpose. In the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson harmonized the dissenting voices echoing across the colonies. The self-evident truths rang from the swamps of Charleston to the sea-ports of Connecticut.
Jefferson not only united the colonists, but he gave future generations a clear vision of the purpose of government. His succinct statement of principles resonated with the delegates of Philadelphia as they crafted a new Constitutional government. (more…)